I made biscuits!

Last week I had some buttermilk in the fridge (leftover from a semi-successful black-and-white cookie project) and some extra cheddar cheese. So I made biscuits! Cheddar-buttermilk biscuits, to be exact. And they looked like this:

I didn't have a biscuit cutter so I used the rim of a glass. Still came out relatively round.

Yummm

Later that evening, I delivered them to AV, and I tried a taste. I admit I'm definitely not a biscuit connoisseur, but these were pretty good taste-wise. However, texturally, they were on the crumbly side rather than the flaky side. I used butter rather than shortening or lard, because a) that's what the recipe called for, and b) I'm much more of a fan of butter than either of the alternatives. Is it possible to make flaky butter-baked biscuits? Any tips or tricks? Maybe I'll make perfect, flaky biscuits my next recipe quest. If you have the answer, email me or leave a comment...

LWF&D gorges on chocolate and wine at Bouchon Bakery

A few weeks ago I heard about this thing called the Circle of Taste, a promotional food-related group for the Time Warner Center restaurants and shops. I signed up and entered a few of their giveaways and then didn't give it a second thought (go on, you can sign up too-- click here). But then about a week ago I received a call on behalf of the Circle of Taste informing me that I'd actually won one of the slots at a "Chocolate Delight on a Star Filled Night," a chocolate and wine tasting at Bouchon Bakery. Score! So early on Thursday evening, I met SB, my good friend and +1 for the evening, at Bouchon for an evening of indulgence.

We were met by a high table set to accommodate the eight winners and their guests, with each place set with a menu and a goody bag. I love goody bags! This one included a few Time-Warner-Center-related items, including a reusable shopping bag (which I actually like), in addition to a star-shaped Christmas ornament that mimicked the enormous stars hung in the TWC's atrium and a box of chocolates from Bouchon. Yum.

The evening's bill of fare

The glorious light-filled atrium

Goodies!

Take-home chocolates!

We kicked off the evening with a glass of Bisson Prosecco, which we sipped while waiting for the first dessert to arrive. The prosecco was very, very dry, with an almost appley taste-- a bit austere at the start, but after a bit of air and a few sips the taste opened up.

Prosecco

And then the first dessert came, and we were off and running. Chef Sebastien Rouxel came out to introduce and describe the dessert, which he did prior to every course, a rare treat (I always like seeing the chefs who prepare the food. It makes it more personal!). The tasting started with white chocolate, a dessert entitled "Douceur Tropicale." A beautiful dome encased in white chocolate was filled with white chocolate cream on a base of rum cake. Next to the hemisphere sat a square of braised pineapple atop a square of citrus gelee, all accompanied by a smear of caramel jam. Though some don't enjoy the taste of white chocolate, I'm definitely a fan, and this dessert was right-on. The mousse inside the dome was ethereally light, and the thin piece of cake that formed the base of the dome was perfect. I'm a huge proponent of cooked pineapple-- I love it grilled, but apparently braised and seared works too-- so I loved that piece of the dessert as well. When I sipped the prosecco with the dessert, I found the bubbly almost too dry for the intense sweetness of the white chocolate. But a sip between courses was an excellent palate-cleanser.

Dome of delight, plus pineapple

White chocolate mousse

The next course started with a glass of Chateau la Rame Sainte Croix Du Mont, which turned out to be a honey-colored dessert wine. At first sip, it struck me as way too sweet, almost syrupy with a candied aroma and a faint taste of apricots. But this actually turned out to be the best pairing of the night-- when consumed with the milk chocolate "Tentation au Chocolat," the wine actually tasted less sweet and quite complementary. The dessert itself was a knockout, perhaps my favorite of the night. A scoop of milk chocolate cremeux-- basically a silky mousse-- was enrobed in a praline glaze and topped with three crackly chocolate bites. A tiny scoop of condensed milk sherbet sat atop a crumbly cookie of sorts. Oh, and there were two smears of sauce and a tangled tuile that tasted like bananas. The composition was a visual delight, and the sublime taste of that milk chocolate cremeux is pretty much engraved in my brain. Insane.

Sweet, sweet elixir

A milk chocolate composition

Inside the milk chocolate cremeux

Our final course began with a glass of Melville Estate Pinot Noir. After the unctuous sweetness of the dessert wine, the Pinot Noir tasted dark and almost harsh, but perhaps that made it an appropriate accompaniment to the dark chocolate "Tart au Chocolate Acidule." This dessert was another incredible composition, a layered stripe of chocolate cake, mousse, and dark chocolate ganache topped with a crinkle of gold leaf and a spiral of dark chocolate. A scoop of cranberry sorbet, draped in pink foam, sat atop a carpet of chocolate cookie soil. And then there was a spoonful of pure caramel, topped with a dehydrated cranberry tuile that tasted uncannilly like a fruit roll-up. I often find dark chocolate desserts to be too strong, just too much, but (perhaps due to all the wine?) I didn't have that problem with this plate-- everything, once again, was incredible. I'll admit my favorite part was the caramel-- smooth, sweet, and perfect-- but I also truly enjoyed the cake-mousse-ganache concoction.

A glass of melted rubies

Dark chocolate + upscale fruit roll-up = awesome

So, in sum, damnnnnnnn, Bouchon. These desserts were incredible, and sitting in the chattering Bouchon "dining room" (really a cordoned-off area of the third floor of the TWC) opposite a sparkling atrium with giant stars whose lights glittered to the tune of Christmas music... well, it was just an incredibly pleasant experience. And to think SB and I got all this food and drink, and an evening of quality catch-up time, gratis... well, it makes me want to keep entering all the contests I come across. And though it may increase my competition, I encourage you to do so as well-- you've got nothing to lose, and you may just win something truly sweet.

Circle of Taste
Time Warner Center
Ten Columbus Circle

Kyotofu is now getting about 10% of my disposable income

Last night I went back to Kyotofu for some more soymilk soft serve. I love this stuff. More than anything else recently, it's truly grown on me from a food I legitimately panned the first time I tasted it to something I crave. This week's flavors are Maple Vanilla and Chocolate, which sounded delightful together. A quick order for a small swirl with fruit compote and we were on our way.

Melty and filling and scrumptious

First off, props to the robust serving of fruit compote-- depending on who's working behind the counter, sometimes you end up with only a few dribbles of the fruit syrup, but last night I had a healthy portion of the actual stewed strawberries. Rockin'. As for the soft serve itself, the maple vanilla was a delight-- on first taste, the nutty soymilk bite came through faintly, but after a few more spoonfuls it was all maple vanilla all the way. The chocolate was very chocolatey, as promised. Curiously, I expected the two flavors to meld together well, as vanilla and chocolate dairy soft serve usually do, but I found that the two flavors rather stood alone, not really warring per se but not complementing or enhancing one another either. And any spoonful that contained both was overwhelmed by the strength of the chocolate. Since the delicious fruit compote goes better with vanilla-based flavors than chocolate anyway, I think my next purchase (ahem) will be straight maple-vanilla. Regardless, it was a satisfying treat for mind and body-- I think Kyotofu does vanilla flavors really well and (on behalf of my taste buds if not my wallet...) hope to see them in the weekly rotation for weeks to come!

The Turducken of baked goods at Andre's

This past weekend, my good friend BD from home and his girlfriend MM were in town. We met up over dinner at Cavatappo Grill, that old standby, and then released ourselves onto the UES streets in search of dessert. What would satisfy our cravings? We swung by Two Little Red Hens, jonesin' for some cupcakes and pie, only to find it closed. For shame. Onward we went, one block south, to Andre's for some Hungarian treats.

AV and I had hit up this little secret before, finding the edibles sweet and the employees sour. This time around, the service wasn't quite so brusque-- not exactly touchy-feely either, but at least they didn't seem angry that we were there. That was an improvement. The four of us grabbed a table and selected our snacks; a few moments later, the goodies arrived.

Both AV and MM went with the chocolate croissant. These were large and graced with a flurry of powdered sugar, but if you're looking for a classical, flaky French croissant, these are not it. The dough was stretchy and dense, almost like a breakfast bread or a heavier cinnamon roll dough. On the plus side, the chocolate inside was well distributed, and the whole thing came together well in a finish of chocolate and brown sugar.

About the size of a Hutch football

My choice was the vanilla roulade, a slice of chocolate cake spiraled with vanilla creme and a center of jellied cherry. I stuck to the center of the treat, where the cake had absorbed some of the cherry liquid and was tasty and moist. The cake around the exterior was a bit dry; no matter, as I was only able to finish about a half or two thirds of the treat before I gave up.

You can see the moisture in the middle

But there was no giving up on the part of BD, the evening's champion. He ordered what Andre's euphemistically calls "Chocolate Mousse Cake," a slice that turns out to be a previously undiscovered concoction combining chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, cheesecake, and chocolate ganache icing. This was unquestionably the Turducken of baked goods: Gancheemoucake, or perhaps Moueese'ganake. Regardless, BD tucked in with the vigor of a veteran, demolishing first the cake and the cheesecake and then, finally, with a few heroic bites, the thick layer of mousse. Dammmmmmn.

Hard to believe this actually exists

At that point, it was pretty much all we could do to roll ourselves to the curb and our respective destinations. We definitely had a good time at Andre's, but I'm still on the ambivalent side-- the place doesn't have a whole lot of atmosphere, and without careful ordering, you can definitely find better baked goods elsewhere. However, if you're in the mood for strudel or rugelach or one of their specialties, or if you're simply in a pastry pinch (damn you, Two Little Red Hens!), stop on by and check it out-- at the very least, it's a neighborhood institution.

Andre's Bakery

1631 Second Avenue, between 84th and 85th Streets

212-327-1105

A quick stop into Obao

'Twas the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and as I found myself in the city rather than at home in Massachusetts as was customary (long story, but I actually had a nice low-key Thanksgiving in NYC), BL and I took the opportunity to have our (semi-) monthly catch-up dinner. We trekked through the abandoned wastelands of Midtown East to try Obao, Michael Huynh's newest outpost. It's gotten a lot of buzz but mixed reviews, so I was curious to try it out.

Like the rest of Midtown East, the place was pretty much deserted. As I was led through the empty noodle bar into the pretty, serene dining room in the back, I spotted one other three-person party having dinner in a booth; they vacated shortly after I sat down, so BL and I had the place to ourselves until we paid the check, at which point another small group came in to take our place. No matter; especially when it was this quiet, the dining room was a nice place to be, full of handsome dark woods and anchored by two long communal tables down the center.

Our server was friendly but seemed still to be getting her footing-- in fact, the whole staff seemed overwhelmingly tentative. It took a good five minutes for our server to return to the table and inform BL that his order of a birch beer would go unfulfilled: they had run out. (A huge run on birch beer earlier in the day? Who knows?) However, we didn't mind at all-- we chatted as we waited for our much-anticipated dishes to emerge.

BL went with the Singapore Noodles, which were thin noodles served along with Chinese sausage, shrimp, crispy lard, and chives. The noodles were served in an appealing little metal wok-like dish, which I liked. BL approved of the dish, and when prompted gave it a three-spatula designation.

Noooooooodles

My choice was a no-brainer: the papaya salad. This was an artfully disheveled pile of deliciousness, although the taste was unlike any papaya salad I'd had. There was some spice-- pickled plum powder, perhaps?-- that dominated the flavor profile. The shredded coconut was an interesting touch but didn't add much in the way of taste. The crispy shallot, however, added both taste and texture. Yum.

Offbeat papaya salad

And that was it. A quick trip to the bathroom revealed an unmarked door and no light (literally, the socket had no light bulb). An attempt to pay with credit card revealed that they're cash only. So the final verdict? Worth a stop if you're in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't trek across the city to go-- it's a three Offset Spatula spot that's overshadowed by all the great Thai options much closer to home.

Obao
222 E. 53rd Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues
212-308-5588

LWF&D on the PA wine trails, part III: Our final day

On Sunday morning, we said a mournful goodbye to the beautiful Glasbern and set out once again for the final three wineries on our tasting itinerary. A scenic 45-minute drive led us to Galen Glen Vineyard and Winery, which was to be the most enjoyable stop on our tour. The tasting room was located on a small rise amid vineyards stretching as far as the eye could see, and the panoramic windows in the tasting room made the utmost of the view. The room was bright and airy and filled with friendly folks, particularly one spunky bartender who poured our tasting wines.

The Galen Glen tasting room

The gorgeous view behind the bar

AV started with a bite of turkey salad on crackers and then hunkered down with a (byo) bagel breakfast while I tasted the wines. While Galen Glen had a few interesting dry whites, including a spicy Gruner Veltiner and a floral Gewurtztraminer, it excelled in the semi-dry and semi-sweet arena. The winery's Winter Mountain White and Erin's Aulese were both fun, sweet whites, and the lighty sweet Cellar Red was a compulsively drinkable, lighthearted red. I finished with a taste of the Holiday, which was an incredibly lucious raspberry wine, which tasted just like a distilled syrup of straight raspberries. A quick flick of the credit card later, we were out of there with bottles of Cellar Red and Holiday and a spring in our step.

Some of the wines on offer

The tasting bite

Unfortunately, things went slightly downhill from there. Our next stop, Big Creek Vineyards, was somewhat difficult to find, and when we did find it the scene was bleak. The tasting room was spartan, and though the bartenders were admirably kind and friendly, that couldn't redeem the few wines I tasted. The Seyval, a dry white, had a salty bite almost like a dry sherry. The Vin di Pasqualina had an enticing Concord grape smell, but the taste didn't live up to it. A sweet Spiced Apple wine had notes of cinnamon and clove, but it couldn't top the special wines we'd already encountered. Looking to save a bit of palate energy for our final stop, we cut our losses at three tastes and headed to our final destination.

The Big Creek vines

Pretty much the only decor in the tasting room

A few quick detours later (there may or may not have been a quest for a case of Pennsylvania's own Yuengling in there somewhere...), we arrived at Franklin Hill Vineyards, the seventh and final winery on our trip. Franklin Hill was located far, far off the beaten path, at the end of a one-mile dirt road that was itself off a winding country road that was ITSELF off an access road... you get the picture. The tasting room was a hub of activity, packed with friendly faces and mercifully supplied snacks, from cheese to pretzels and dip to a pulled pork crostino with mulled wine. I tasted the mulled wine, which was delicious, while AV devoured the pork.

The quaint Franklin Hill tasting room

The view from the porch

I feel a little guilty that Franklin Hill got short shrift in the overall scheme of things; by the time I arrived, my stomach was protesting from all the daytime wine, and another few sips of wine were pretty much the last things I wanted. But I plugged on. Franklin Hill had some interesting and fruity wines, from the sweet, grapey Niagara white to their well-crafted Brut bubbly. Their Passion wine was a dead ringer for a strawberry-kiwi Snapple, and had I been able to foresee myself drinking wine ever again in the future, I probably would have picked up a bottle. But as it was, I smiled weakly, made use of their new and mercifully well-equipped bathroom, and hoped in the car. AV and I pointed the car towards NYC, and less than two hours later, we were home.

The mulled wine...a thimbleful of delicious

Overall, I learned a few valuable things over the course of the trip:
1) I much, much prefer wine in the evening, especially with food. I have confirmed to myself that I just don't appreciate the nuances of a fine red at 11AM.
2) With enough persistence, you can find good wines nearly anywhere. Before we left, I didn't have high hopes for the quality of wines on the Trail, but I was pleasantly surprised again and again. Especially if you can leave your wine snobbery at home, you'll find a number of just-plain-fun wines on the Lehigh trail. And what's more, the bottles are so affordable (most hovered around $10 each, with quite a few less than that and the most expensive bottles topping out around $20) that it's possible to take a few home. Which, down the road, affords the inestimable pleasure of opening a bottle that is both delicious and evocative of a fond memory.
3) The value of a wood-burning fireplace, especially on chilly winter nights, should not be underestimated. Oh, and same goes for a hot tub.

Special thanks again to the Glasbern Inn and the PA Wine Association for bringing us out to the Lehigh Valley. Our wine horizons are certainly broadened; should you be looking for a similar outcome, don't forget that the Pennsylvania wine country is just on the doorstep of NYC. It's an easy and rewarding--and atypical-- weekend getaway you'll remember for years to come.

LWF&D on the PA wine trails, part II: Saturday wine tasting

After our filling and fortifying Glasbern breakfast, it was time for AV and I to begin the real work of the weekend: wine tasting. The PA Wine Association had prepared a wine-tasting itinerary for us, with 7 wineries to hit in the two days we had on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail. Four wineries on the first day? We could handle it.

Our first stop, at the bright and early hour of 11AM on Saturday, was Blue Mountain Vineyards. It was a beautiful location with a lake fronting the enormous tasting room. We wandered in and first sampled their featured pairing of the day, 2009 Nouveau with turkey soup. AV raved about the soup, but unfortunately the Nouveau was a bit thin and watery for me.

Tasting room on left; lake on right

Bright and airy tasting room

Our first sip and bite

We headed back to the bar and began tasting in earnest, curated by one of the winemakers, who provided commentary and information on the winemaking process. From Riesling to Merlot to Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignon, we tasted it all. Our favorite was the "Victoria's Passion," a semi-sweet wine with a note of raspberry, which we tasted with semi-sweet chocolate (just like a fruit-flavored bonbon. Yum.) We picked up a bottle of this delightful treat to go, bid goodbye to the winery's enormous dog Shiraz, and set out back on the road for our second stop.

Our next stop was Pinnacle Ridge. This tiny tasting room was hopping with activity when we arrived, but AV managed to snag a plate of little nibbles to munch as an accompaniment to their Chambourcins. AV approved of the food, particularly a garlic honey mustard spread, while I really enjoyed my taste of their Chambourcin rose.

The entryway, in a barn-like building

Tiny pairing hors d'oeuvres

Once we made our way to the tasting bar, we were in for a treat. Overall, I thought Pinnacle's were the best wines we had on our journey, especially the lightly sweet Riesling and their 2008 Cayuga. My palate also got an education in wine tasting terms: when the man behind the bar described their Traminette as "floral," I wondered what that could possibly mean, until I took a sip and found out that "floral" means "like taking a swig of perfume." Not my favorite, but certainly interesting. It's also worth noting that Pinnacle's palate-cleanser crackers (little bland crackers provided by at most of the tasting rooms for the purposes of cleansing one's palate between wines) were by far and away the best of our trip-- like tiny little puffed animal crackers. You know, for what it's worth.

The tasting bar, with wine barrels beyond

Some of the bottles on offer

Unfortunately, our next stop was not quite as successful. The tasting room at Clover Hill Winery was beautiful-- huge and sunlit, situated next to a gentle hill covered in vines. The place had a full retail store selling a wide variety of products, from wines to wine-themed tchochkes, as well as a function room, kitchen, etc. This was clearly a sophisticated operation.

The exterior of the massive building

The vines

Inside the tasting room

The view of the tasting bar

Some of the glassware on sale

The view of the vines from inside

That sophistication attracted quite a crowd, much of which was clustered around the tasting bar. After AV nabbed a meatball, on offer as part of the featured tasting, he and I sidled up and spent a good five or ten minutes trying to catch the eye of the harried and slightly annoyed-seeming employees. Once we finally did nab one, a woman who clearly didn't have-- how should I say it?-- zest for her job, I tasted two wines before I gave up. Both the vidal blanc and cayuga white were cloyingly sweet, despite being listed as "off-dry" and "semi-sweet" respectively. And with a five-minute wait or so between tastes as the bartender disappeared to attend to other customers, AV and I threw in the towel and headed out.

Our final stop that afternoon was Vynecrest. The tasting room was a barn-like building situated amongst acres of vines, and as we pushed our way in, we were once again confronted by a huge crowd. Suffering a bit from wine fatigue at this point, we nonetheless doggedly made our way to the tasting bar, where an incredibly friendly bartender poured a variety of tastes. Their Vynecrest White tasted just like a mouthful of fresh Concord grapes, while the Autumn Gold was a syrupy sweet libation. Finally, the bartender poured us a taste of Cherry DiVyne, which, with the delightful addition of a bite of chocolate, tasted remarkably like a cherry cordial.

The Vynecrest "vynes"

The Vynecrest barn

The Vynecrest wines

And with that dessert-like finish, we were done with wine for the day (well, until dinner, that is). But it was still early in the afternoon-- and with dinner not until 7:30, how are two crazy kids in the Lehigh Valley supposed to pass the time? By gambling, of course. So AV and I set out east towards the fabled new Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA. We got lost approximately a billion times, but right when we were about to ask a third and final person for directions, we found ourselves right in front of the hulking building, which blended in with the industrial decor.

In the glass elevator, the industrial signage outside

AV wanted to give me a whirlwind tour of the fun table games (craps, anyone?), so we parked the car and headed inside. As with pretty much every casino I've ever been in, the scene inside was bleak-- despite the suave decor and flashing lights and blinging noises, it was essentially a large, smokey room filled with sad-looking people who were gambling at 3 in the afternoon on a beautiful Saturday. Nonetheless, we pressed on, looking for the tables. And you know what? They don't have tables. Well, sort of-- they have "video" tables, like video poker but for multiple people. Disappointed, we played the one-cent slots for about 5 minutes, and then AV grabbed a spot at the $5 poker table. About 45 seconds later, he had won $20. We did not pass go and headed driectly to the cash-out windows, where I made a mild gambling-addiction joke that was quite poorly received by the worker behind the window, grabbed the $20, and ran. To the car. And then drove.

Across an indoor pond, to the money-sucking machines beyond

And there you have it-- our first full-day adventure on the Lehigh Valley wine trails. But there was more to come, don't worry. Stay tuned for a full report on day 2...